With relatively recent trends towards overall well being through fitness, exercise and leisure activities the use of bicycles is becoming increasingly popular. Concomitantly, there also exists a trend for families to perform outdoor activities together. Hence, the use of bicycles for family oriented rides is becoming part of our contemporary lifestyle.
For families with young children, the child typically rides in a jump seat or a trailer attached to the bicycle of the parent. As the child grows older, the latter no longer wishes to ride in the jump seat or trailer but rather wishes to independently ride a child bicycle. During the transition period that may last for several years, the child has limited physical capabilities compared to that of a young adult and thus, the stamina of many adults will generally outlast that of their young children.
Consequently, the bicycle ride must be planned within the capabilities of the child so as not to exhaust the latter. The ride must either be kept short or planned with frequent resting periods. Furthermore, the ride must be maintained at the child's pace which may be considerably slower then that of an adult. This type of situation can be frustrating both to the child pressured to perform beyond his or her capacity and for the adult who may fell restrained. Both the child and the adult will thus be prevented from enjoying together a relatively long ride.
Various types of devices have been proposed in the past in an attempt to circumvent the hereinabove mentioned problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,738 teaches a single wheel trailer for carrying an occupant. The frame of the trailer includes a towbar member and two symmetrical fork members for retaining the single wheel. A hitch connected to a driving bicycle tows the trailer. A pedal assembly coupled to the frame enables the occupant to power the trailer. Although this structure enables the occupant of the trailer to either help power the bicycle or could be towed by the prime mover, it does not allow the occupant of the trailer to ride independently from the prime mover even for short periods of time.
The prior art also discloses various types of towing bars for coupling two bicycles in a tandem-like configuration. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,592 issued Apr. 14, 1981 and naming Jacques Dusseuil as inventor, discloses a coupling device wherein a coupling bar is fixed to each of the two bicycles making up the tandem by an universal joint specifically designed to increase stability of the tandem unit. This type of structure intended to be used with bicycles of substantially equal height, both ridden by adults, is not suitable for situations wherein an adult forms a tandem with a child's bicycle.
Indeed, the configuration of the towbar disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,592 is such that the steering wheel of the rearwardly positioned bicycle is in contact with the ground surface. Improper alignment of such rear bicycle steering wheel may potentially create a biasing force that will tend to render the tandem unstable and thus potentially dangerous. Also, the front wheel of the rearwardly positioned bicycle even though useless and even potentially dangerous as a steering component being in contact with the ground surface creates a frictional and a drag force that increases the load on the frontwardly positioned bicycle attempting to pull the rearwardly positioned bicycle in situations when for example a child wishes to rest.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved bicycle-coupling device specifically intended for coupling an adult bicycle to a child's bicycle.